Humid air, music and laughter filled the night as Clara Jene stood frozen, heart pounding. She was supposed to be enjoying her graduation trip with her best friends, Anna and Shae, in the irie city of Kingston, Jamaica. In the crowded beach party, she spotted someone she never expected—her father, Clarke.

Janae stood at the classroom door, nerves fluttering. It was her first day teaching at a new school. “Good morning, everyone,” she began, her voice steady but hands slightly trembling. “I have a special announcement. Today, we’re starting a project that I hope will be both fun and meaningful.”

Ryan looks at me and my chest augments, my ribs splitting up and open, heart bared in gory invitation even after all of these years. I left her caterpillar body on the concrete steps of a school I wasn’t fully ready to leave.